2013 Broward County Arts Teacher of the Year Kicks Off With a New Program

"Mainstreaming Engagement"- Community Engagement through Art

BCD Holds City Arts Advisory Board Meeting

Creative Artist Advancement Program (CAAP)

A Modern Electrical Streetcar Named The Wave

CulturalConnection.org Offers Same Day Half-Price Tickets

2013 Broward County Arts Teacher of the Year Kicks Off with a New Program

The 2013 Broward County Arts Teacher of the Year kicked off this month with a new program, launched through Broward Cultural Division, along with event host Business for the Arts of Broward.

What's New! Broward County public, private and charter school principals and teachers are invited to nominate arts teachers for this multi-disciplinary Honor of Excellence. For the first time this year there will be one Arts Teacher of the Year award in each of four categories - dance, music, theater and visual arts, and the four winners will not be announced until the night of the event on November 6, 2013, at Broward Center for the Performing Arts. There will also be performance and exhibit showcases from the best students in Broward County in a variety of program formats, on a night that celebrates Arts Excellence!

For 27 years the Broward County Arts Teacher of the Year Program has showcased the artistic excellence of students and faculty in Broward County schools, by honoring one outstanding arts teacher each year for his/her contribution and dedication to arts in the classroom. This year, they will be honoring FOUR teachers and FOUR artistic disciplines AND this is also the first year that private schools have been invited to apply. The application deadline is May 31, 2013 and arts teachers may also submit applications.

The recipients' success is celebrated during a ceremony at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in the fall. Each winner will receive a check for $1,500, a Tiffany crystal apple, an assortment of gifts from arts and cultural organizations and businesses, an inscribed brick on Riverwalk, and one of the winning schools will receive a $500 contribution to the arts department at their school.

"As Michele Obama said, 'Every day, through engagement in the arts, our children learn to open their imagination, to dream just a little bigger and to strive every day to reach those dreams.' This award celebrates the important work of arts educators, the critical nature of artistic disciplines in schools, and the overall impact of artistic excellence in the forming of young minds," says Earl Bosworth, director, Broward Cultural Division.

Mainstreaming Engagement: Looks at the Arts as Powerful Force in Building Communities

Area cultural executives, non-profit managers, artists, board members, marketing and development staff are invited to a half-day workshop, that takes a looks at the arts as a powerful force in building communities. Mainstreaming Engagement will be presented by Dr. Doug Borwick on Friday, April 19, 2013, from 9:00AM - Noon, at ArtServe, Inc., 1350 East Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.

Dr. Borwick will guide participants through the concept that in order to be successful, community engagement must be an essential element of virtually every aspect of an arts organization’s work: programming, development, marketing and governance. He will discuss how important it is to structure and implement activities so that they reflect a whole-organization perspective; and show how a community engagement lens helps unify these functions and provides the potential for greater success.

Dr. Borwick is CEO of Outfitters4, Inc., providing management services for nonprofits and of ArtsEngaged, offering training and consultation services to artists and arts organizations seeking to more effectively engage with their communities. Borwick is the author of Engaging Matters, a blog for ArtsJournal, and author/editor of Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the U.S. Later this spring he will be a featured speaker in Detroit, MI at the CultureSource Annual Conference; in Orono, ME at the Arts Commission Annual Conference; Washington, DC at the American University Emerging Arts Leaders Symposium, and in Hanover, IN at the Indiana Arts Commission, to name a few of his future engagements. To see a complete list of his future engagements, visit artsengaged.com.

The fee for the workshop is $25; and participants will receive a copy of his book Building Communities, Not Audiences: Please RSVP to this workshop; and for further questions contact Adriane Clarke, at 954-357-7530.

A Meeting for Municipal Arts Advisory Board Members and Administrators

All municipal Arts Advisory Board and Public Art Committee members, as well as community recevelopment agency (CRA) staff and municipal administrators are invited to a meeting on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. The meeting, hosted by Broward County Cultural Division and the City of Sunrise, will begin at 9 a.m. at Sunrise Civic Center, 10610 W. Oakland Park Blvd., in Sunrise. The meeting is also opened to any interested members of the public.

The purpose of this meeting is to network and share among municipal administrators and city arts advisory boards, public art boards and arts-related staff. It is an opportunity to report at a roundtable discussion about what arts and cultural activities have taken place in individual cities during the past year and what is planned for 2013 and beyond.

The agenda will include: an Introduction by Cultural Division Director Earl Bosworth; a Welcome to the City of Sunrise by Alan Cohen, City Manager; and Overview of Cultural Programs in the City of Sunrise by Beth Zickar, Leisure Services Director, City of Sunrise and other topical subjects such as State and Federal Advocacy and the new Creative Artist Advancement Program recently launched by the Cultural Division.

Attendees are asked to come prepared with: A description of the composition of their advisory board: The type of cultural services their city offers; New cultural initiatives; One city marketing idea that you can share with your colleagues; Any suggestion of a service or a program that your colleagues or Broward Cultural Division might be able to provide, and please bring handouts to share with your colleagues.

The Municipal Arts Advisory Board group has been formed between the Broward Cultural Council and the municipalities to establish greater collaboration, communication and partnerships in order to share all that has been achieved in local arts development over the past year.

A new program, launched by Broward Cultural Division, through an initiative funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, is available for artists of all disciplines who wish to develop their work in the public realm.

Creative Artist Advancement Program (CAAP), provides educational and financial assistance to local artists for projects that engage artistically-underserved communities, while providing lifelong learning activities for youth and adults. Local artists are encouraged to take their creativity to the next level by expanding their possibilities through networking and information. CAAP will prepare artists to demonstrate the powerful impact the arts can have in the community.

Over an 18-month period beginning April, 2013 through September, 2014, CAAP will present a variety of offerings, including a professional development series, project funds and technical assistance for individual artists.

The Professional Development Series kicks off on April 26 with five workshops presented over 5 ½ days at Artserve, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale Anyone can attend one workshop, or all; however, to be considered for the funding initiative, a participant must have attended the full series, and be a Broward-based artist. The following Professional Development workshops will convene:

The series will also offer a Public Art Portfolio review to all participants by appointment, for those interested. RSVP through links in schedule. Visit the Broward Cultural Division website for more information.

A Modern Electrical Streetcar Named The Wave

The public commute in and around Fort Lauderdale will soon include a modern electric streetcar that will operate in part via overhead electrical wires in some areas and by battery power in others. The Wave modern streetcar has been given unanimous approval by the Broward County Commission, setting in motion financial agreements and partnerships that will make electric streetcar transportation a reality in the downtown Fort Lauderdale area by 2016. The County’s portion, which funds operating and maintenance costs, is $2.5 million annually beginning in 2016.

Initially, The Wave will travel a 1.4 mile loop around inner downtown Fort Lauderdale. The next step, dependent on federal financing, will expand the route to 2.7 miles, encompassing Sistrunk Boulevard to the north and 17th Street to the south.

The 1.4 mile loop will proceed from the Central Bus Terminal on Broward Boulevard, south down Brickell Avenue, east on Las Olas Boulevard, then south on Southeast Third Avenue, west on Sixth Street, south on Andrews Avenue for one block where it will proceed north on Southeast Third Avenue to begin the loop all over again. A $50 million Federal Transportation Administration grant has been requested to complete the entire 2.7 mile system.

Funding partners to build the transportation system include the City of Fort Lauderdale, the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority in coordination with the Federal Transit Administration, and the Florida Department of Transportation. Broward County will be responsible for operational costs once the project is up and running.

Culturalconnection.org Offers Same Day Half-Price Tickets

The Cultural Connection is a website jointly supported by WLRN Public Radio and Television and the Theatre League of South Florida. This Site provides a service to our Cultural Community by offering Same-Day Discount Theatre Tickets to listeners while promoting theatrical events in South Florida. Tickets may be purchased only on the day of the performance.